I don’t see why it’s ageist to have research that focuses on a particular age group? for whatever reason the OP has chosen to to focus on Generation Y which is fair enough. The whole point of research is to find a new angle and maybe that’s his way of doing it. No doubt someone will be on here in two weeks saying they’re looking to research baby boomer attitudes to Airbnb at which point others will get their opportunity.
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It is ageist to suggest that over a certain age is incapable of using the internets and/or applications. I could care less if he only wants a certain age to answer his survey [though s/he should have mentioned that when s/he first posted.]
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I don’t believe he said people of a certain age were incapable of using the net. He said Gen Y are now the largest consumer group which is true. Note he didn’t say they’re the group with the highest disposable income - different thing all together which goes to baby boomers and pensioners. Broadly Gen Y are also most likely to be au fait with technology as they’re the generation that grew up with mobile phones and the internet whereas my generation did not.
I can remember the days when I knew my best friends house phone number and when if you didn’t meet people at the time you said you would, well that was that.
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I’d like to offer perspective from 2 different, well… perspectives.
As a host: we offer a whole-house rental. We host quite a few extended family groups. Many of the people I get inquiries from in the X or Y generation are collecting information and it is the older people (parents, grandparents) who end up making the decision. Mind you, the last group we had was a multi-family and it was the “aunt” (mid-60’s) who booked, but she also checked with the people in their 40’s-50’s about the final decision.
My son is 28 and he likes the experience of staying in peoples’ shared homes or hostels when he travels so that he can more fully embrace the culture. I tend to look more for separated spaces. So the age of guest may play a factor in the type of Airbnb experience people are looking for.
As a guest: I plan travel all the time, from 2-person weekend getaways, to a group of 25 traveling to the other side of the world for 3 weeks. My current project is a 2.5 week motorcycle tour for 8 people aged 23, 28, 32, early-50’s and early 70’s. Everyone just always leaves it up to me to book - the “younger” ones don’t have the patience to put it together and those in their 70’s are technologically challenged.
So, I have to admit I don’t think that limiting your questions to a particular age group (even if you’ve determined they have the most representation) will give you a rounded perspective. Just my 2 cents.
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Oh those were the days. My best friend in primary didn’t even have a phone in his home. If I wanted to see him, I had to go by bicycle for 15 minutes to see if he was at home.
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Hahaha!! How true! 2 hours late can be considered “on time” for certain age groups.
We had dinner with older friends last week - arrived fashionably late (10 minutes, which we considered polite) and we were definitely late.
There’s no need for insults! And there was me thinking I was talking to adults.
And to let you know, Airbnb was created in 2007 by funnily enough, members of Generation Y…
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This particular study is only focused on individuals between the ages of 18 and 36. Thanks for taking your time in filling out the first section though! 
From another thread, I just read PitonView note that there is a 23-year old that is booking their home on behalf of his family. Case in point.
I didn’t come here to argue. So let’s just say we agree to disagree.
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My gran (87) still drives, uses an iPad and has been emailing for 20 years. She’s also got a lot of disposable income but I can see why she wouldn’t be the target of anyone’s research into Airbnb behaviours.
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The post hasn’t been edited. Maybe someone was a bit too quick to judge.
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If you could introduce the title of your tropic and the university you are studying at that would be great.
Agreed. 
I realise that you don’t know this but every few days someone comes here with a survey so we do get a little grumpy about it. Most of us, at first, are keen to help but over the years I can only remember one person who posted a survey coming back to tell us the results. And although it seems that we chat here all day, we’re all very busy and active hosts and can’t always spare the time. I hope you understand.
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Oh yes those were definitely the days. I need to go home and check my answering machine to see if someone left me a message. And before “call waiting” you had to get off the phone if your parents were expecting a phone call. And then you were stuck sitting as far as the cord would extend…lol. You had to get up to change the TV channel to one of the five stations and then move the antenna around. And then at 2 a.m. or so the national anthem started playing and the networks went off the air. Weren’t there some planes flying around on the screen or something?
We used to rent the VCR from the Blockbuster video store. OK…my parents were the last to get anything new - but those def. were the days for sure!
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I remember getting video games from Blockbuster!
I’ve thought about getting into some video games with my kid when she grows up a bit more, but it hit me that I have no clue what to do–I used to just buy a game and stick it in the system, but kids today talk about a thing called Steam, add-ons, and a bunch of other concepts that leave me scratching my head.
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Little off topic but there is still a blockbuster type chain open near my parents. They still exist outside the states!
Street view evidence:
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No worries, good luck with your dissertation! It’s a very interesting topic, and I often wonder if I’m contributing to an industry with systemic problems like removing available housing for locals, driving up prices, etc. I’d be very curious if your own research affirms such causation.
PS… gen Y’er here 
. I don’t want to jump into the fold, but I did a short little research paper on gen y in the work force and technological differences were something I cited. Pretty sure ample literature noted a few differences and even anecdotally from my time in corporate America I often saw how my older coworkers liked to visit each others’ desk to pass along info whereas me and my friends just shot back a quick email. But even now I’m seeing differences between myself and Gen Z. They bring tablets to class, which is, to me, amazing. They’re going to be building websites as a routine homework assignment and probably do something like coding 101 as their foreign language. All tangential… but I will fully admit that the incoming generation will be doing cartwheels around me technically as they grow up.
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@Kirsty_Jane, glad you posted evidence because it’s like seeing an antique!
I have the same fondness for them as I do bookstores. I’m guilty when it comes to reading books more from my Kindle, but there’s something very satisfying about buying books that I know won’t be stored on a cloud somewhere for some AI to analyze my purchase for marketing research and overall consumer commodification. Simpler times indeed.
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Maybe I am behind the times, but when I was an undergrad we called it a senior thesis or senior seminar. Dissertation was a word used for PhD candidates. I too would be interested in the actual university and the department this study is for.
May I also remind members here not to call names? Thank you.
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